The following common pitfalls can cause any Customer Feedback system to fail (and for customer, also think employee, student or patient). We will take a look to see how these pitfalls can be avoided.
Lack of a clear objective
Without a clear objective, you won’t know what questions to ask or how best to ask them and you won’t be able to measure the success of your feedback system. The lack of a clear objective will also make it harder for you to gain management and stakeholder buy-in. If you don’t know what success looks like, you’ll almost certainly fail.
Absence of ownership
A customer feedback system represents an investment and you will expect a return. The link between feedback and financial performance should be established up-front to gain buy-in into the customer feedback process. You will need senior ownership and commitment, especially as there can be a time lag between establishing a feedback system and seeing the benefits. Without such commitment, feedback programmes can be seen as an avoidable expense.
Poor survey design
Survey design is important. A bright, engaging survey will generate more responses. Keep the survey short and focus on the things that really matter – i.e. start with your end objective and build your question set from there.
Use smileys and rating questions for simplicity and ease of answer. Steer-clear of long-winded questions. Make sure you use an open-ended question such as, “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?”, as this can yield insights into what your customers really think.
Using the wrong channel
Different audiences require different approaches. Tablet based surveys are highly mobile and enable you to use icons and images to simplify questions; they can also use routing so that the next question asked takes account of the last answer given. However, if you’re targeting an elderly demographic, a large proportion of whom aren’t tech-savvy, you may be better opting for paper surveys. In other situations, a multi-channel approach may be more appropriate as it will enable you to reach a representative cross-section of your target audience.
Choice of channel and design of the survey together will be the main factor in determining response rates.
Treating Customer Experience as a project
A project has a finite duration with a defined start and end date. If you approach customer feedback as a project you may gain some short-term insights and business benefits but you’re unlikely to achieve lasting, long-term change. This requires a change of culture which can only be achieved when seeking and acting on customer feedback is embedded in a company’s process; this needs ongoing commitment.
Failure to follow-up
Survey fatigue can be an issue, especially if respondents become disillusioned by a perceived lack of follow-up. After all, why bother wasting your time completing a survey if it makes no difference?
Take the opportunity to communicate what you’ve done in response to feedback. Demonstrate that you’re listening by addressing concerns raised and remedying outstanding problems.
About ViewPoint kiosks
ViewPoint Pulse
- Single or multi-question feedback
- Add QR code on screen for touchless
- Multi-language open feedback
- 4G / WiFi Enabled
About ViewPoint customer feedback solutions
ViewPoint helps organisations to radically improve the quality of their services. Our interactive feedback technology engages with consumers, patients, employees, and any other stakeholders, to understand their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the experience they encountered. Our unique smiley face surveys attract, engage, and encourage users to leave their thoughts. Four reasons feedback kiosks are the preferred feedback collection method:
- Lower cost customer survey solution
- Suitable for all environments
- Reliable and always on
- Highly accurate insights
Find out more about how real-time surveys can help you assess customer and staffing issues, monitor improvements, and compare departments to deliver the best service possible.
